74 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



[P^ 



In Ceylon this is doubtless owing to the air hold- 

 ing in suspension a large quantity of vapour, which 

 receives shadows and reflects rays of hght. The natives, 

 who designate them " Buddha's rays," attach a supersti- 

 tious dread to their appearance, and beheve them to be 

 portentous of misfortune — in every month, with the 

 exception of May, which, for some unexplained reason, 

 is exempted. 



Health. — In connection with the subject of "Cli- 

 mate," one of the most important inquiries is the 

 probable effect on the health and constitution of a Euro- 

 pean produced by a prolonged exposure to an unvarying 

 temperature, upwards of 30 degrees higher than the 

 averao-e of Great Britain. But to this the most tran- 



o 



quilhsing reply is the assurance that mere heat, even to a 

 degree beyond that of Ceylon, is not unhealthy in itself. 

 Aden, enclosed in a crater of an extinct volcano, is not 

 considered insalubrious ; and the hot season in India, 

 when the thermometer stands at 100° at midnight, is 

 comparatively a healthy period of the year. In fact, in 

 numerous cases heat may be the means of remo\dng the 

 immediate sources of disease. Its first perceptible effect 

 is a shght increase of the normal bodily temperature 

 beyond 98°, and, simultaneously, an increased activity 

 of aU the vital functions. To this everything contri- 

 butes an exciting sympathy — the glad surprise of the 

 natural scenery, the luxury of verdure, the tempting 

 novelty of fruits and food, and all the unaccustomed 

 attractions of a tropical home. Under these combined 

 influences the nervous sensibility is considerably excited, 

 and the circulation acquires greater velocity, with 

 somewhat diminished force. This is soon followed. 



shaped streak of indigo was sliooting 

 upwards in the zenith : it remained 

 nearly stationary about an hoiu", 

 and was then blended into the sky 

 around it, and disappeared with the 

 day. It was, no doubt, owing- to 

 the presence of some particular 



moimtains which intercepted the red 

 rays, and threw a blue shadow, by 

 causing so much of the sky above 

 Kashmir to remain unaffected by 

 them." — Travels in Kashmir, \o\. ii. 

 ch. X. p. 115. 



